Some metals smell like…metalic. Brass musical instruments have the smell, keys, coins and surgical steel all have the smell.
How can metal have a smell? I find it hard to imagine molecules of copper or copper oxide wafting off into the air to land on my olfactory epithelium. These metals and their oxides have negligible vapour pressure at room temperature. So whats going on here?
I know stuff like OsO4 stinks, but it is volatile. Oh, and aluminium doesnt smell at all (at least to my nose).
I have always wondered this myself. As a corollary, why does the smell transfer so easily to your hands? Keys and coins seem to be the worst offenders.
This is probably because keys and coins are so commonly handled. Many other common metals/alloys easily transfer a rather strong odour to the hands as well.
Silverware is pretty commonly handled, but does not impart an odor to the hands, even when it is stainless steel. I think it probably has more to do with the poorer quality of the metal, but I will defer opinion to an expert doper.
Where is that expert doper?
Metals are constantly reacting and oxidizing to lesser and greater degrees. The products of the oxidizing reaction may be what gives some metals their characteristic smells.
I don’t think metals per se do smell. However, there may be a smell or odour from
(a) stuff used to clean it, prepare it or treat it
(b) accumulated surface contaminants, such as dirt, grease, dust, or chemical films building up on the surface as the outer layer undergoes a very slow reaction with oxygen in the air
© sweat and other contaminants from frequent and repeated handling by people
(d) odours in the environment where the metallic object resides settling on the metal’s surface. I used to play brass band instruments. Those that were kept in nice cases lined with thick fleece cushioning tended to smell of the artificial fleecy stuff. Those kept free-standing in the band room tended to smell the same as the band room.
orgamometallics and metal compounds can have an appreciable vapour pressure as any one who has aver worked around an inorganic lab will tell you. I was amazed when I first saw a red chromium compound that was a gas.
The smell is of the Lacquer not of the metal itself. The Lacquer is used to keep the surface from corroding and helps retain its shine.
You’ll realize this once you lose the Lacquer and you polish the metal by yourself, and see it tarnish within no time. The Lacquer can be removed by putting the brass in boiling water with some baking soda/washing soda.
The Lacquer dissolves somewhat in your fingers, because of the sweat and hence the smell.
It can’t be Organometallics with high vapor pressure (that implies its explosive).
I disagree with what andy_fl said - high vapour pressure does not imply that a compund is explosive, it merely mans that it is volatile.
As for the smell issue, I’ve wondered about this before, and assume it’s due to the oxidation products that form on the surface of the coins, keys etc - maybe copper compounds, as most coins (in the UK at least) are made of cupro-nickel alloy, and brass keys etc also contain copper.
I think it’s the oxidation - rusted iron always has the same distinctive smell. Greenish copper seems to have a consistent smell, too. Other metals and alloys probably have their own smells, but we don’t encounter them often enough to readily identify 'em.
Assuming that smell and taste are both related to interactions with metal, steel is not tasteless. So it probably isn’t odorless, either. Try eating something like coffee ice cream with chopsticks or a plastic spoon or better yet, your hands, then try using a stainless steel spoon. Not a subtle difference!
I stopped using steel utensils in normal daily use, and the camping store I buy my forks, knives and spoons from tells me other people have made the same decision.
I did not say that a high vapor pressure implies a compund is explosive. I said high vapor pressure Organometallics are explosive.
If you don’t agree with that, please give me a cite.
Fair enough - I misinterpreted your post. I agree that organometallics are unlikely to be responsible.
OK, guys settle down!
I’ve noticed this as well. Before I lost a part part of my sense of smell to a sickness a couple years back, I noted that coins had distinctive scents. Pennies were different from the “silver” coins. Commonly-handled metal like old-style doorknobs also imparted an odor to the hand, although it seems that new handles, or at least handles that are cleaned frequently, give nothing to your palm.
The clincher is OLD-STYLE RADIATORS! Ya know, the heating system of your house or building pushes hot steam through big iron radiators and eventually heat gets spread around the room. Good system, except it was noisy and STANK during the winter.
I think that the “smell” of metal is just individual particles of metal oxide dust borne aloft off the objects or off our hands after touching said objects.
A clean piece of steel is odorless and tasteless - anyone who’s washed dishes can tell that’s one way to determine if you’re done cleaning a batch of forks yet, or have to scrub them for a third time.
It wouldnt be dust. I have in front of me a clean surgical steel scalpel. It smells metallic.
It must be molecules in a gaseous/vapour state. That is the only way the smell could reach your nose.
But how could it be nickel and copper oxide vapour at room temperature? Do they smell that much?
No. It is not laquer.